This invention relates to systems for, and methods of, providing a tee mechanism including a tee on which a ball can be disposed so that a child can practice hitting the ball with a bat. More particularly, the invention relates to a system for, and method of, controlling a disposition of a ball on a tee in accordance with the transmission of signals from the bat under the control of the child holding the bat.
Baseball has been designated for years in the United States as the national pastime. Actually, baseball constitutes the national pastime in a number of countries in the world including Japan and the countries in Central America. The fundamentals of baseball are in two (2) categories-hitting and catching. Hitting is perhaps more difficult than catching. Pitching machines have been in existence for decades to provide an opportunity for baseball players to practice hitting. When activated, the machines propel balls to a batter who stands in a batting cage. The balls are propelled on a sequential basis to the batter at a relatively high speed.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,190,271 issued on Feb. 20, 2001 to Mark J. Rappaport and Jose E. Leal as joint inventors and licensed to the same licensee as the licensee of this patent application discloses and claims a system for, and method of, propelling balls to a batter, who is primarily a youngster between the ages of about 9 to 12. The system and method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,190,271 provide a bat with a switch on the bat and a transmitter in the bat. When the batter presses the switch to close the switch, the transmitter sends signals to a propulsion mechanism. The propulsion mechanism then propels a ball toward the batter. The ball is preferably a wiffle type of ball so that it will not travel a long distance when hit and so that a bystander will not be injured if struck by the ball.
Special formats have been specially developed for young children (e.g. children below the age of about nine (9) years old) to help them practice hitting a baseball. In these special formats, a softball is disposed on the top of a tee which extends upwardly from a support surface. A child then swings a bat against the ball to hit the ball. Leagues have been formed with a plurality of teams each having a particular number of players eight (8) years old or younger.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a propulsion member (e.g. a bat) has an external switch and an internally disposed transmitter which transmits signals when the switch is manually closed. A receiver in a tee mechanism receives the signals and causes a tee in the mechanism to move upwardly from a rest position to an operative position. As the tee moves upwardly to the operative position, an element (e.g. a wiffle ball) moves on a ramp to a supportive position at the top of the tee. When the tee is in the operative position, a player holding the propulsion member swings the member against the ball. This is helpful to young children (e.g. eight (8) years old or younger) in learning how to hit a baseball.